Gospel Music's First Family Mourns The Loss of Sibling, Ronald Winans

The multi-award winning musical dynasty, The Winans Family said good bye to Ronald Winans, the second eldest of the ten siblings, on the morning of June 17th Winans endured a massive heart-attack in 1997, but because of much prayer he experienced a miraculous recovery after the doctors had given him up for dead. In recent weeks, Ronald was admitted to the hospital for observation after the doctors realized he was retaining an abnormal amount of fluid in his body. On Thursday the doctors announced that they didn't feel Winans would make it through the night and he peacefully succumbed due to heart complications early this morning. The entire family gathered together at Harper Hospital in Detroit, Michigan to be with Ronald until his final moments. "The family wishes to thank everyone who joined us in prayer and will continue to extend their unwavering support during our time of loss," states the seventh son, BeBe Winans. More...

ZOEgirl Grows Up On Room To Breathe

The three young women of ZOEgirl - a favorite pop/rock group among teenage girls-say they’re growing up right along with their audience in a new interview at ChristianMusicToday.com.

Discussing its progressive new album, ROOM TO BREATHE, the group looks back over the past five years, laughing at early fashion crimes and celebrating the highlights (encouraging and being encouraged by the fans). And even though ZOEgirl focuses on the spiritual needs of females, the trio says boys can enjoy the music as well. More...

Guy Penrod - Best of Guy Penrod

For more than a decade, Guy Penrod has been thrilling Homecoming audiences with his big voice and even larger stage presence. The tall Texan with the flowing salt-and-pepper hair has become one of the most popular and recognizable members of the Gaither Vocal Band and the Homecoming family. Some of Guy’s most memorable performances from years of Homecoming videos have been assembled on his first-ever solo video, The Best of Guy Penrod, including "Redeemed," "The Haven of Rest" with the late Glen Payne, "I'm Gonna Sing" and the Gaither-penned classic, "The King Is Coming."

Street date: July 16, 2005

Blessed Be Your Name: Songs Of Matt Redman In Stores 7/19

Songwriter/artist-worshiper Matt Redman's best known work will be gathered on one disc for the first time when BLESSED BE YOUR NAME: SONGS OF MATT REDMAN VOL. 1 releases to stores July 19.

Seven of the twelve featured tracks are currently among the Top 200 songs on the CCLI chart, which monitors the performance of modern worship music in churches around the world. BLESSED BE YOUR NAME includes: "Blessed Be Your Name," "The Heart Of Worship," "Better Is One Day," "Let My Words Be Few," "Undignified," "Once Again," "Let Everything That Has Breath," "Holy Moment," "Lord, Let Your Glory Fall," "Facedown," "I Will Offer Up My Life," and "The Father's Song." More...

Kate Miner To Release Prodigal Martha

Costa Mesa, CA – Worship leader and prolific songwriter Kate Miner readies to release her Floodgate Records debut PRODIGAL MARTHA June 14th. Available nationwide, PRODIGAL MARTHA is distributed by Word Distribution / WEA. Kate will be performing songs from the new album at the Malibu Vineyard, Malibu CA June 26th, and at Cornerstone Festival.

Produced by David Miner (Elvis Costello, T-Bone Burnett), PRODIGAL MARTHA was recorded in early 2005 in Nashville, TN. A host of amazing players participated in the recording of the project, including Phil Keaggy, Ramy Antoun (Seal), Gary Burnette (John Wesley Harding), and Steve Hindalong (God of Wonders, City on a Hill). More...

Steven Curtis Chapman To Perform At Billy Graham Crusade

2005 Grammy Award winner Steven Curtis Chapman (ALL THINGS NEW) is honored to be performing at the Billy Graham Crusade on June 24 in the greater New York City area. Learn more about the event at BillyGraham.org.

2005 Dove Awards Broadcasting In June & July

The 36th Annual GMA Music Awards (also known as the Dove Awards), filmed in Nashville this past April, is now airing in syndication throughout the United States during June and July.

Among the featured EMI CMG artists are co-host Steven Curtis Chapman as well as performances from Best New Artist nominees Bethany Dillon and Matthew West, plus a special worship segment with Passion artist-worshipers David Crowder Band, Matt Redman, and Chris Tomlin.

See air dates and times listed at GMAMusicAwards.com.

Podcast 101 - Just The Facts, Ma'am.

Since the first article was just a little about myself, I thought I'd give a little overview of what podcasting is, for all you folks out there who are new to the term.

Podcasting is a method of delivering mp3 file content to a vast number of people without a whole lot of work. Mp3s can be of just about anything, whether it be a program about how to fight chicken pox, a musician's podcast with songs, or a five minute newscast.

Podcasting uses what are known as RSS (Real Simple Syndication)* feeds to keep listeners up to date with the latest podcast by linking them to the newest mp3 content. RSS is used to provide items containing short descriptions of web content together with a link to the full version of the content. RSS is widely used by the weblog community to share the latest entries' headlines or their full text, and even attached multimedia files (as is the case in podcasting).

The RSS feeds are 'read' by a software program called a 'podcatcher' (such as iPodder, iPodderX, etc.). Each time the feed is updated with a new podcast, the software program downloads the mp3 content and imports the file into your selected media player (usually iTunes or Winamp), ready for you to enjoy. The podcatcher software will typically create a new playlist in your media player for each podcast that you subscribe to. The next version of iTunes (version 4.9) will actually include podcatching features to allow users to subscribe and download podcasts directly from and into their iTunes program. Very cool, if you ask me...

Podcasting is fast becoming one of the easiest methods for audio content delivery. With nothing more than a few clicks, you can subscribe to hundreds of podcasts and have them automatically downloaded to your computer overnight, with fresh content waiting for you in the morning. The podcatching software is totally free, and there is no cost involved in downloading any podcasts. The sky is the limit for the future of podcasting! More...

Narnia Soundtrack In The Works From EMI CMG

Billboard.com reports that EMI CMG will release one of the two major soundtracks for the upcoming Walt Disney Studios/Walden Media film THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE.

Contributing artists and a complete track listing should be revealed in June. EMI CMG's soundtrack is scheduled for release on September 27. The film, based on the classic book by C.S. Lewis and considered one of the most anticipated movies of all time, will be in theatres worldwide on December 9.

Praise for Pee Wee Callins' 'Street Soul'

Nashville, TN - New Beatmart Recordings artist Pee Wee Callins offers listeners straight-up R&B/Soul music with a voice that is rich with color, expression, power and emotion. His debut solo project -Street Soul which released April 19, 2005 - skillfully showcases R&B, giving the genre's audience what they've been craving. The CD's first single - "Sunshine," a love song to the Creator - is currently garnering adds on Gospel radio stations nationwide.

Rave reviews are streaming in on the album, and Pee Wee's peers and fans are making their opinion known. A few notable comments include:

"Pee Wee Callins' Street Soul is one of the year's nicest surprises, and shoots to the top of our list."
-- Gospelflava.com

"With a very distinct retro feel, the album plays like a modern addition to the classic Motown collection. It's a feel-good album full of slow jams that will help pass the summer evenings away."
-- cmcentral.com

"A fine debut, a breath of fresh air amidst the suburban excesses common in much of today's Christian music."
-- ChristianityToday.com

Pee Wee Callins' Street Soul is available on Beatmart Recordings and is distributed by Word Distribution. Additional information about Callins and his music can be found at http://www.beatmart.com